History :


Until 1963 Russell Springs was the county seat for Logan County. There was much feuding over which town should serve as county seat. Oakley won the honor in 1963. In 1965 the old county courthouse in Russell Springs became the Butterfield Trail Historical Museum.

Russell Springs, founded in 1865, was the Eaton stop on the Butterfield Overland Dispatch stage line. The line ran through rough Indian country to connect the gold mines in Denver, Colorado, with Fort Riley, Kansas. It ran until the Kansas Pacific Railroad was built. Travelers on the Butterfield Trail always made the natural springs in the area a watering place, calling them "Russell's springs.